


Let's Get This Quarantined Bread

by kuscospoison



Category: American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Apocalypse, American Horror Story: Coven
Genre: A lot of hcs, COVID, Cordelia does a mom, Gen, Michael gets the help he needs, Quarantine, Redemption AU, social distancing, the years are different
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:53:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24941137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuscospoison/pseuds/kuscospoison
Summary: (I realize this doesn't go with the canon timeline of the story but bear with me here it's a funny idea)When the stay-at-home order is put in place and there's a travel-ban across the country, Michael has nowhere else to turn but the coven he hates. He's never learned to care for himself, after all. But he's in for a lot more than he expected.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 16





	Let's Get This Quarantined Bread

**Author's Note:**

> I like the idea of redemption Michael okay if this seems ooc I apologize.

How. 

That was what Cordelia had wanted to know. 

She just wanted to understand how the stars had managed to align so that Michael had ended up stranded in New Orleans when the quarantine happened. How had fate decided to give her the biggest fuck you possible? Although, she had to admit that when he had come crawling to them for a place to stay she had felt a certain satisfaction. 

It had been about a week into quarantine when they had finally gotten a knock on the door. One of the younger girls had come running to her, panicked. Most of them knew what and who he was. 

It was confusing, seeing as how he wasn't going on a murderous rampage as he had promised he would. Confusing indeed. She had gone to the door, doubt suspended. "What are you doing here?" She couldn't help but speak with a certain level of animosity. He was an enemy, a monster. 

Michael sighed, then looked down. "I've been stuck in a hotel since the stay-at-home order." He mumbled like a dejected child. 

Cordelia nodded. "Good for you." She attempted to slam the door shut. 

Unfortunately a black dress shoe got in the way of doing that. Michael's dress shoe. "I can't…I don't really know what to do. I'm completely alone there, nobody to help me cook or anything."

Cordelia opened the door back up and glared at him. "And how do I know this isn't some scheme to get in here and harm us again?" 

Michael sighed. "I don't know, I'm just tired of living off of chips and Mountain Dew. It was fun the first day or so. There aren't any books there and no libraries and I never really learned how to use a computer." 

It revolted her, how upset he looked. Like a lonely and hurt child looking for comfort. He was, in some ways, still technically a child. And it appeared that no one, not even that crazy cult member Miss Meade had ever taught him to care for himself. From what she understood, and the way Michael spoke, he had been coddled or thrown out into the wild to fend for himself by a lot of people. She couldn't help but hate herself for this feeling of pity for someone who was a monster that only wished to harm the people she loved. "You're going to be kept on watch. We'll have one of the teachers here keeping an eye on you at all times, even when you're asleep."

Michael groaned and rolled his eyes. "Whatever, I'm just stuck here because of the travel ban. Once that's lifted, you're all dead."

An idea began to hatch in Cordelia's head, then. Had Michael really ever been given a chance to go towards the path of good? Perhaps they could take this stand-still that the virus had pushed them all into and use it to their advantage. And even if it failed, they could destroy him, since he was on their home terf. Cordelia nodded slowly. "Alright, come with me into the kitchen and we'll make something for lunch." 

This was going to take a lot of explaining to the other witches, Myrtle especially. "And take off that ridiculous cape, you may as well make yourself comfortable."

It was an odd juxtaposition, Michael's character. He was a weird combination of megalomaniacal genius and child-like innocence. She had decided to test him by having him make his own lunch. 

Watching him was painfully awkward, he was clearly intelligent enough to know the mechanics of making a fucking peanut-butter and jelly sandwich, but the look on his face and the slowness with which he operated made it clear he had never done it before. It would have been funny if it wasn't a little pathetic. 

"I don't understand what the point of making me make my own sandwich is. It seems like a waste of time." He grumbled as he cut the crusts off his sandwich. 

Cordelia folded her hands. "People need to learn to take care of themselves. It's part of growing up and becoming a functional human being." 

Michael rolled his eyes. "Save the lectures for teaching your stupid witches." He bit aggressively into the crustless sandwich. "It's a waste of time for someone like me." 

"Someone like you? Because you're the Antichrist?"

Michael just glared at her in response. 

"I don't see why you shouldn't learn to care for yourself. To make your own food and be a functioning adult." 

There was the most subtle pause at that word, the way Michael stiffened. Cordelia would have missed it if she wasn't watching him. "Do you have chips?" Michael said through a mouthful of sandwich. 

"Don't talk with your mouth full. And only if you say the magic word." Cordelia smiled a bit. 

Michael glared hotly at her. "Get me the chips."

Cordelia folded her hands and held Michael's gaze, engaging in a fearless staredown. "You know what you have to say." 

"Please." He finally hissed. 

"Please what?" 

"Please get me some goddamn chips!" Michael finally yelled. 

Cordelia got out of her chair. "That's better." She went to the pantry. "We have barbeque, sour cream and onion, salt & vinegar…" 

She peeked her head out of the pantry and Michael shook his head. "Do you have anything spicy?"

Cordelia nodded. "Queenie has flaming hot Cheetos, you can have some of those. Just don't eat them all." She walked back to the counter with the bag of Cheetos and held them out.

Michael tried to snatch the bag, but Cordelia pulled back. "What do we say?" 

Michael rolled his eyes. "Thank you." He growled.

Cordelia smiled and held them out, letting Michael take them this time. "Has anyone ever taught you how to cook or clean? Do your own laundry?" 

Michael scowled. "Why do you keep coming back to this? It's not important."

"It's just...interesting. Madison told me a bit about your past and it seems to me like you've either been coddled or just abandoned to fend for yourself. Both of which aren't healthy."

"It's a bit late to be trying to parent me, don't you think?" 

Cordelia shook her head. "Is it? You're how old, technically?" 

Michael looked down. "That doesn't matter."

"I think it does." Cordelia countered. 

"Why? Because you think you can fix me?" He started laughing. 

"I'm just asking you your age." Cordelia smiled a bit. It was obvious he was uncomfortable. 

Michael stopped laughing and glared at her. "My age and maturity are two different things. Physically I'm in my mid twenties." 

Cordelia nodded. "Yes, I can see that, I'm not blind. I'm asking you what your technical age is." 

Michael put down his sandwich. "Six." 

Cordelia couldn't help but laugh a bit. "What?" 

"You asked, didn't you?" Michael yelled. "Are you happy?" 

Cordelia honestly felt taken aback. In terms of life experience, Michael really was a child. Even if his mind was mature enough to be an adult, the child-like naivete and tantrum-like anger he had were explained now. "No. I'm actually sad. You've never had a childhood, you've never had a life of your own outside of...all of this." 

Michael shook his head. "So? That's obviously not why I'm here." 

"Don't you ever get tired of being the Antichrist? Don't you ever look at other people, normal people, and wonder what it's like?" 

Michael threw up his hands. "No! Because I could never have that! I would think you of all people would get that by now!"

Cordelia sighed and tried to calm down. The fact that he was so young, it struck a chord in that part of her that had wanted children so badly at one point in her life. "Do you think if your grandmother had been different, if the people who you thought loved you were different, that that might not be the case?" 

Michael's rage seemed to slow for a moment. "No. Nothing would have changed what I became. This is what I was born for. There's no changing it, no controlling it. I'm the Antichrist, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. Not even me." 

"You seem very certain about that. People can learn self control. You're only six years old, even if you have an adult's mind, you still haven't learned things like self-control." 

*I knew I shouldn't have come here, this was a waste of time, this whole quarantine is a huge waste of fucking time!" Michael yelled and threw his sandwich on the floor.

Cordelia sighed. "And I rest my case. I'm going to get you the broom and mop and floor cleaner and you're going to clean that up. In fact, this whole floor could use a good mopping." 

Michael shook his head. "No." 

Cordelia chuckled. "No?"

Michael grinned. "No. What are you going to do? Put me in time out?"

Cordelia grinned. "Yes, actually. You're going to stay here in the kitchen until you clean up your mess and face your consequences." She hummed and got out her phone. "Make yourself comfortable." 

Michael seemed to almost deflate at her words, both in surprise and defeat. Had his grandmother never...punished him? Made him deal with consequences or take responsibility for his actions? Obviously the Satanic cult members wouldn't have, considering they all worshipped him. Same with the warlocks, except instead of worship they treated him as a savior. 

She glanced up at her phone and saw Michael perk up a bit, smirking. He went to the fridge, then took out the carton of eggs and began dropping them on the floor, one by one. "Have fun cleaning that up later." 

Michael froze, egg in hand. "You said you wanted me to mop the whole floor…" He seemed to say this almost to himself, as if realizing what he was doing.

"I did. And now your job is gonna be that much harder." Cordelia smiled a bit, watching Michael dig himself deeper in the hole of consequences he had made. Everyone had put him on a pedestal for his entire life, and now he was being taken off that pedestal, but not abandoned.

She watched as Michael quietly shut the egg carton and put it back in the fridge, then sat at the stool, an odd expression on his face. You could see the satanic cogs turning in his strawberry blonde head. Now it was just a battle of wills, and Cordelia was certain that Michael's lack of patience was going to fuck him over in this.

Then the room began to get cold. Oh, so he was using magic now. This was going to be fun. It was easy to offset and suppress the cold that Michael was trying to bring to the room. She peeked over at him and saw his face straining. He looked almost constipated. "I'm the Supreme, remember? Magic isn't gonna work on me. You aren't up against a bunch of weak warlocks with barely any magical ability. You're up against me. And I have something you don't. Experience."

There was about another minute of Michael attempting to use magic and failing. He even tried to teleport out of the room before being caught in the threshold by Cordelia and herded back to his seat. 

Zoe had walked into the kitchen as Michael's temper tantrum was ending and then froze when her eyes landed on the Antichrist. "What is he doing here?" 

"He needed a place to stay during quarantine, as long as we keep watch over him we can pull it off." 

Zoe looked at Cordelia like she was some drug addict looking for a fix on an LA freeway. "Why is there egg on the floor?"

Cordelia looked at Michael. "Why is there egg on the floor Michael?" 

Michael's face was turning red. "I...I got angry." He mumbled. 

Zoe turned her judgemental gaze onto him. "So...you threw eggs?"

Michael glared at her. "I did other stuff, too. I tried to use magic." 

Zoe smirked. "Against Cordelia? The Supreme?" 

Cordelia was already prepared with an immobilizing spell as Michael tried to use magic on Zoe. He toppled out of his chair and onto his side on the floor, growling and hissing like a wild animal caught in a trap. 

"Does he have rabies or something?" Zoe scowled down at him.

Cordelia chuckled. "Oh, it's much worse than that. He's a child throwing a temper tantrum."

Zoe nodded. "Okay. I'm gonna just...grab a drink and leave then." She gave a terse nod, stepping over egg and the wriggling Antichrist to get to the fridge and a drink, quickly grabbing a bottled water and then making her escape. 

Cordelia sighed and knelt in front of Michael. "You have two choices. One, you can continue to throw your tantrum and stay stuck here in the kitchen. Or you could clean up the floor like I told you to." 

Michael groaned. "This is fucking ridiculous, you really think chores are going to somehow change me?" 

"I don't know what they're going to do, but you're in my house, and you're going to follow my rules. You make a mess, you clean it up. Just like everyone else here." 

Michael stopped wriggling and looked up at her. "Can you free me, then?" 

Cordelia smiled and did so, then went to the closet in the kitchen and began getting out the mop and bucket. "We're just gonna have to mop up the mess, then change the water and mop the floor." 

"I hate you." Michael mumbled as he stood up and walked over to her. 

Cordelia held out the bucket. "Fill this halfway with water, I'll get the floor cleaner and we can add it to the water." 

Michael grabbed the bucket. "This is boring." 

"Yeah, life is like that sometimes. That's how it is for everybody." 

Michael sighed and turned on the sink, the bucket under the faucet. "My life isn't supposed to be boring. This whole quarantine shouldn't be happening, it's just holding me back from fulfilling my purpose." 

Cordelia grabbed the floor cleaner from under the sink. "Why do you need a purpose? You could choose to be different. That's what makes us human. Having choices." 

Michael looked at her. "I'm not entirely human, am I?"

"But you are some amount of human, so it still applies." Cordelia smiled. "Do you have any hobbies? Anything you do when you aren't...trying to end the world?" 

Michael shrugged. "What do you mean?" He turned the water off and held out the bucket. 

Cordelia showed him how much floor cleaner needed to go into the water. "Do you have anything that you like to do, that makes you happy?" 

Michael seemed to think for a minute. "I like puzzles. Dr. Harmon used to give me puzzles and I liked doing them, he would be happy when I did them quickly." 

Cordelia nodded. "Okay. That's a good start. But did you do that just to get his approval, or because you wanted to?" 

Michael set the bucket down and began mopping up the egg and sandwich. "I...I don't really know. I've never really been anything outside of...being what I was born to be. Even grandma wanted me to be her perfect golden child." He shrugged. "Like I was somehow going to fix the fact that her other children had died or weren't up to her standards." 

"Sounds to me like everyone you've ever trusted just wanted you to fit an image they created. Even Miss Meade took you in because of the fact that you're the Antichrist, right? They didn't do it just to help you. But for their own agendas."

Michael picked up the remains of his sandwich and tossed it in the trash. "Don't talk about Miss Meade like that." 

Cordelia folded her arms. "Am I wrong?" 

"Why are you doing this?" He glared at her. "You took her away from me. She was the only one who ever cared."

"She cared about the Antichrist, not Michael." 

Michael shook his head. "No, you're wrong. She loved me." His eyes were getting misty.

Cordelia pursed her lips. "Michael, do you think she would have taken you in if you were a normal child? If you weren't what you are? Because if not, that's conditional love, which in my opinion isn't really love at all. Just the illusion of it." 

Michael was shaking his head rapidly, his arm covering his eyes. "No, no…"

Cordelia sighed and pulled Michael into a hug, having to pull him down to adjust to his height. "My mother abandoned me too. She was irresponsible, vain...she never loved me." 

Michael was shaking as he sobbed quietly. "Wh...what did you do?" 

Cordelia rubbed his back. "I had other people who loved me, for who I was. Who wanted to see me grow and become my own person. I think you've been missing out on that." 

She sighed and held him as he cried, bawling like a child. "Do you want some herbal tea? Or hot chocolate?" 

Michael sniffled. "Do you have marshmallows?" 

Cordelia nodded. "We do." 

"I want hot chocolate, then." 

"Okay, I'll make it while you finish cleaning up." She pat his shoulder, deciding not to pull back until he did. 

There were a few more minutes of strangled sobbing before Michael finally quieted down and pulled back, wiping his eyes. He swallowed hard and grabbed the mop, resuming his work without protest. Cordelia smiled and went to the pantry, grabbing a packet of hot chocolate. 

"Do you think I'm going to keep aging like I have been?" Michael asked out of nowhere as he mopped the floor. 

Cordelia looked over. "I...I don't know. I would hope that isn't the case." She couldn't help but feel worried at the fear in his eyes. "Maybe we could look into that and figure something out." 

Michael nodded. "At the rate I'm going, I'll be an old man by the time I'm like...ten? Eleven? I don't even know." He swallowed hard. "It's just something I've thought about." 

Cordelia nodded. "We'll figure something out. Being...one of our kind is never easy, even for warlocks. But it doesn't mean you can't have a long and happy life. We just have to figure out how to help you resist that darker side of yourself."

Michael sighed. "I don't know if I really can. But I already feel like I've lost so much, I mean...people go through childhood and puberty and I just...skipped all of that." 

"I'm sorry that happened to you. But hopefully we can make what you have left happier." Cordelia smiled. "The girls here are all staying for quarantine, I know a lot of schools are shutting down but many of them don't have a home to go to so… Anyway, we're going to have a movie night tonight. If you want to join, I'll try to talk to everyone so that it doesn't cause trouble." 

"Why are you doing this?" Michael gave her a confused scowl. "After everything I've done."

Michael probably already knew that she wanted to change him to stop the oncoming apocalypse, so just saying that would probably be unwise. "Maybe it's because I'm starting to see a human side of you rather than just an agent of evil." She shrugged.

Michael looked down. "I can't believe fucking chores are making me go soft, this is ridiculous."

"This is utter madness!" Myrtle shook her head. "Leaving him alone right now is a risk we shouldn't be taking!" 

Cordelia shook her head. "He's not alone, Madison and Zoe are watching him. And I really think that there's a human side that we can get through to, maybe even stop this whole Armageddon thing from happening."

"You're just projecting that onto him, he's going to kill us all, his past actions have proven that."

Cordelia sighed. "Can we just give him a chance? If anything it's something to focus on during this self-distancing business…" She sat at her desk. "You were a mother to me when I needed you, I think Michael needs the same. Not a worshipper or someone with an agenda projecting onto him." 

Myrtle sat at the chair in front of her desk and heaved a long sigh. "You really think this is going to work?" 

Cordelia smiled. "I'll watch him during the day, you watch him in the evening, while Zoe and Madison take the night shift. If any of us need backup we'll be right in this house." 

There was a knock on the door and Michael peeked his head in. "We need batteries for the Xbox controllers."

"Ah, I took them away after the younger girls were fighting over it." Cordelia nodded and opened her desk drawer, taking out the batteries. "What are you playing?"

Michael smiled a bit. "Zoe is showing me Minecraft. I'm building hell and it's coming along very nicely." He took the batteries. 

Cordelia nodded. "Better Minecraft hell than actual hell, right?" 

Michael nodded. "Yeah, I guess so." He shrugged and left as soon as he came. 

Myrtle scowled at the door in confusion. "He's a very strange boy, but if he doesn't show promise we can just kill him, considering he's right here." 

"Exactly, this plan is foolproof." Cordelia smiled. 

They had found Michael's hobby. It seemed he really enjoyed Minecraft. Cordelia had started bringing a book along on her babysitting of him, because he spent hours on that game. It was almost concerning. He built hell, which was just a mish-mosh of whatever. Then he built his childhood home. 

He also enjoyed the more violent games. The gorier, the better, it seemed. The glee he had when killing enemies in the games he played couldn't help but make her feel even more concerned. "Michael, does this...make you want to hurt people?" 

Michael had paused the game and looked over at her. "No, it actually helps with that...urge, y'know? I get almost as much satisfaction as the real thing sometimes." He smiled. 

Cordelia nodded. "That's good news. As long as you aren't hurting real people, then I see no harm." It didn't do anything for her boredom, though. 

Now that Michael wasn't hyperfocused on the task of ending the world, he seemed a lot different. The anger, the urgency, the menace seemed to fade. Behind all of that was just...a kid. He was cheerful, polite. Maybe a bit aggressive at times. But otherwise he was a lot better than she had imagined. 

After a week of watching this change, she couldn't help but bring it up. "Michael, do you still feel like you have to...be what you were born to be?" 

Michael had slowed in his eating of yet another crustless sandwich. "There's this weird feeling, this anxiety. I've had it for a long time now, since I was in the ritual the Satanists did. Like I have to go somewhere or do something." He sighed and waved his hand. "It's like...a pull. It's hard to describe. But it's definitely still there. I just don't really want to listen to it anymore. I like the way things have been. I like having friends and playing video games." He looked back at her. "I don't really want to be the Antichrist. I never did, actually." 

Cordelia nodded. "I'm glad. You're still going to be supervised, though." 

"I should be." Michael nodded. "I'm a little scared to think about what I would do if I wasn't being watched like this. I'm trying to focus on reading and gaming and all this stuff, but it can be hard sometimes. I get headaches, I hear voices." 

"Why didn't you say anything?" Cordelia couldn't help but look at Michael with concern. 

Michael seemed surprised. "I thought you would hate me." 

Cordelia smiled. "I'm actually proud of you, you've come a long way since coming here. I was thinking, if we can get you in control of yourself enough, you could maybe start teaching here." 

"Really?" Michael raised a brow. 

Cordelia nodded. "If you're up to it, then yes. I want you to do it when you're ready, though. I know that you have a lot of lost time you want to make up for." 

Michael shrugged. "No, I should move on when I have control over myself. Even if I've lost my childhood and adolescence, I'm still an adult. I need to grow up and do things for myself." He smiled a bit. "Like you and Myrtle have been teaching me." 

"What's Myrtle been teaching you anyways?" She smiled. 

Michael grinned. "She played chess with me at first but got mad when I kept winning, then she started going over history and philosophy, science, math...now she's teaching me Latin." 

"You did all that in the past week?" 

Michael nodded. "Yep, I read a lot of books before going to sleep and while Myrtle watched me. Dr. Harmon did say that I've got genius-level intelligence." 

Cordelia sighed. "Well, it's hard to really believe the things that he said, from what you told me about him…" 

Michael snorted. "Yeah, looking back he definitely had some issues. But he was right about that." He nodded. "Myrtle taught me how to make bread the other night." 

Cordelia groaned. "Nooo, not another loaf of bread, all the girls are hopping onto the bread-baking trend! I have like twenty loaves of bread in the kitchen that no one is eating!" 

"It's a good way to pass the time, though." Michael chuckled. 

"Yeah, well, he who baked it is going to eat it because I'm not going to deal with the eventually moldy baked bread."

Michael nodded. "You've got a deal." 

Cordelia nodded. "So...I just wanted to let you know, and you don't have to say anything, but...if you're having more sexual interests, I wanted to let you know that condoms are in the medicine cabinet in the bathrooms. Dental dams and lube as well."

Michael blinked. "What's a condom? And a dental dam? Are those sex things?" 

It was always jarring, remembering how young Michael was. He looked like he was in his mid-twenties, but he had no experience when it came to this stuff. "Nobody ever gave you...the talk?" 

Michael shook his head. "No, Myrtle went over the biology with me, but I don't know anything other than that." 

Cordelia took a deep breath. "Oh dear…" She nodded. "Do you…know what you like? Who you like?" 

Micheal shrugged. "Not really. Some of the girls here are pretty, but...I dunno." He scratched his cheek. "It's really hard to figure this shit out when I went through puberty in one night, in my sleep, and never thought I would be able to think about it." He sipped his water. "I think I might like both. But I feel like anybody who would get with me would be signing up for…" He snorted and winced. "A lot of issues." 

"I wouldn't give up just yet, you're trying to change and do better, I'm sure someone will see all of your good qualities and want you for that." Cordelia smiled. 

"You think so?" Michael grinned. 

Cordelia nodded. "I know so." 

Michael looked down. "Thanks. You're like...the closest thing I've ever had to a mom. A real mom."

"Thank you." Cordelia smiled. 

"Myrtle said you wanted kids a while ago. So...is this just you living that dream?" 

The look in his eyes was a lot steelier than usual. He was testing her, questioning the trust he might have built. She didn't blame him, so many people had hurt him and used him that it would only be rational that he would be on guard. "Maybe at first. But only in the sense that it made me more open to the idea of helping you. It wasn't my only motivation. Yes, I did want to try and help you so that you wouldn't end the world or bring harm to my girls, but...you've definitely shown that you're more than what a lot of people have dismissed you to be. And if it felt like I did just help you for my own reasons, like so many other people have done to you, then I'm sorry. That has definitely changed, because I've gotten to know the real you. Michael, not the Antichrist, not the Alpha. Just Michael."

Michael nodded. "That's kinda what I thought but I wanted to make sure." He smiled. "Thanks for being honest. You and Myrtle have been really good to me and I don't want to damage that." She noticed his eyes starting to gain moisture. "Things have been going so well, I'm so scared I'm going to hurt someone or do something awful. I've done that before, without even controlling it. I just...blackout and then when I come to I'm doing something horrible." He sharply inhaled as tears started streaming down his cheeks. 

Cordelia got up and went to him, trying to pull him into a hug. "Michael…"

"NO!" Michael pulled away, looking terrified. "Don't. Don't come closer to me. I finally have something good, I finally have a place where I can just be me and I don't wanna ruin that." 

Cordelia shook her head. "No, you won't hurt me, Michael. And even if you tried, I would easily be able to stop you. Even if I didn't, the others are here and they know about your situation, what you're going through. We're all here to help you." She slowly reached out her hand to hold his shoulder. 

Michael slowly leaned into the touch, finally wrapping his arms around her. "I'm scared. I don't wanna hurt you." He sobbed. "Why did I have to be born like this? Why couldn't I be normal?" 

Cordelia rubbed his back. "I think we all ask ourselves that at least once in our lives. It's best to just work with what you have and make the best of it." 

"I ruin everything I touch, I was born to destroy everything…" Michael whimpered. 

Cordelia shook her head. "Doesn't matter what you were born for, it's what you live for that counts."

Michael sniffled and eventually pulled back. "I guess it's a matter of figuring out what I'm living for, then. It's so hard to figure that out, compared to just following what I was meant to be." 

"That's life, Michael. That's everyday life. Figuring out who you are, what you want to do. That's all a part of growing up and becoming your own person." Cordelia smiled and went back to her seat. 

"I guess I've just never really been equipped for that. I sort of looked down on people who were like that because I thought it was pathetic but…" He swallowed hard. "Having a set out purpose like that is worse." He wiped his eyes and chuckled. "Ugh, I just feel like an idiot for not getting the stuff that normal people just understand." 

Cordelia shook her head. "Nonsense, those sort of lessons come from wisdom, life experience. You don't have those things just yet." 

"Right…" Michael looked down. "Still embarrassing that I look and think like a grown man but still act like a child in some ways." 

"I think that's because the part of you that's human is still somewhat of a child." Cordelia smiled. "It means you're starting to break away from being what you were born to be." 

Michael looked at her and nodded. "I hope you're right. But it's still embarrassing, especially if I do ever find somebody romantically." He winced. "I mean, telling them that I'm only technically six years old is going to be a challenge in and of itself."

Cordelia nodded. "You'll just have to find someone who can understand your situation." 

"I guess. In the meantime, can I have the Xbox controllers back?" 

"You threw one out the window into the backyard last night." 

Michael chuckled. "Water under the bridge, I assure you." 

Cordelia smiled. "How am I assured you won't just get angry again?" 

Michael's smile faded. "Okay, fine. It was worth a shot." 

By week three of the quarantine was when everyone began getting cabin fever and all sense of time had left them. Having the sleep schedule Cordelia had kept to before was almost impossible. 

She had left her room for a glass of water at ass 'o clock one night, walking to the kitchen downstairs to discover the light was on. When she got to the kitchen, she couldn't help but freeze as she saw Michael, by himself, baking bread and dancing very badly to the eighties music playing on the radio that was kept in the kitchen.

"Where are Madison and Zoe?" 

Michael jumped about a foot in the air. "Jesus fucking christ!" He held his chest. "Don't sneak up on me like that." He chuckled. "I kind of told them I was going to the bathroom and then snuck down here." 

Cordelia frowned. "Why?" 

"I couldn't sleep." He shrugged. "And after being constantly watched for three weeks I wanted some alone time. I figured I would be okay, since I'm alone down here." 

She shook her head. "Why are you baking bread? And--." She made a noise in the back of her throat as she gestured her hand. "What are you listening to? Is this soft rock?" 

Michael grinned and shimmied a bit. "I like it! It's got energy to it!" He snapped his fingers. 

Cordelia couldn't help but stare at Michael in confused wonder for a minute as he worked the dough, pretending to punch it to the music. Michael being by himself had been a terrifying prospect, considering the fact that he could have done something horrible to any of the witches here had he wanted to if he could sneak away from the girls like this. So watching Michael swivel his hips to Journey at two in the morning as he was putting bread into the oven was, admittedly, anticlimactic. "There is so much bread here already." She shook her head.

Michael's smile faded. "I put raisins in this one, does that help?" 

Cordelia shrugged. "I guess, there isn't anything to do about it now." She sighed and went to the cupboard for a glass. "It's just frightening to see you by yourself like this." 

"I'm sorry!" Michael looked at her with worried eyes. "I just wanted to get away from everyone, I keep having horrible nightmares and when I tried to tell Madison about it she told me to fuck off." 

Cordelia went to the fridge and got herself a glass of water. "That's Madison for you. I'm just glad nobody got hurt. Part of me is afraid you still want revenge for what happened." 

Michael shrugged. "I miss Miss Meade sometimes, yeah. She just let me do whatever I wanted, but she also had this…creepy kinda obsession with me? It's hard to explain." He leaned on the counter. "But I didn't like the warlocks much. And the way that you and everyone here has helped me and accepted me, I don't want to ruin that. Even if I keep having voices in my head telling me to." He looked at her. "Before, I thought that love was just…someone giving everything to me and just letting me do what I wanted. But now I realize that isn't love at all." 

Cordelia nodded. "I'm glad you could channel your feelings into something constructive." She sighed and sipped her water. "Even if there is already a comically large amount of bread in this house because of that." 

Michael chuckled. "Sorry, I wasn't really hungry for anything and that's all I could think of." He folded his arms. "My magic has been getting weaker. I don't really use it for anything, I just tested it the other day and I could barely use telekinesis." 

"Do you think that's a bad thing or a good thing?" 

Michael shrugged. "I'm not sure, maybe good? It means I don't have the power I got from...from that side of me. Like it's fading because I'm not doing what I'm supposed to do. But on the other hand...I'm scared that I'll lose all of my magic and then you won't want me anymore, since I'll be normal."

Cordelia shook her head. "No, that's not true, Michael. Whether or not you have abilities, you're welcome here. After everything that's happened these past few weeks, consider this your new home." 

Michael sighed in relief. "Good, I was worried." He smiled. "I didn't want to get kicked out again." 

Cordelia shook her head. "I'm not going to give up on you like that. None of us are. Except for maybe Madison, because...she's Madison." She smiled. 

Michael snorted. "Yeah, she offered to suck my dick when I first rescued her from hell and now she tells me to go lick Satan's balls." 

"That's a clever one."

"Yeah, I thought so too." Michael nodded. "But now I think, if I tried to descend into hell, I have this really bad feeling that I won't be able to come back as easily like I did before." 

She nodded. "Hell was something you could control before, but now that you're losing that power you don't have that anymore. Nobody is going to make you do that again. You'll probably be at any other warlock's level, able to do small things with magic and maybe perform one or two of the seven wonders." 

Michael sighed. "I hope it's teleportation and telekinesis, those are so convenient." 

Cordelia snorted. "I don't think you get to choose."

"I know, that's just what I'm hoping for." 

Madison and Zoe walked in then, obviously looking for Michael. "What the hell are you doing down here, you're supposed to be in bed!" Madison hissed. 

Michael scowled. "I told you, I had nightmares! I needed something to work through that and take my mind off of it." 

Madison shook her head. "Is that Journey? Why are you listening to eighties music?"

Michael shrugged. "I like how it sounds!" 

Zoe smiled a bit. "I guess we need to show him better music then." 

Cordelia sighed, finished with her glass of water she set it down. "Well, you can have fun helping Michael figure out his taste in music, I'm going back to bed. Don't stay up too late." 

"What do we have to wake up for, everyone is fucking stuck in this stupid quarantine!" Madison scowled at her and tossed up her hands in exasperation. 

Cordelia put up her hand to give a defense to that statement, but couldn't really find any. "Okay, you have a point. But still." 

"Goodnight Cordelia, I won't stay up too late!" Michael smiled. The irony that the Antichrist was more obedient than Madison was not lost on her.


End file.
